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Political intimidation of a world record holder

LetsRun.com has the following story on the Haile Gebreselassie retirement controversy that is evolving into a 3-way battle between Haile vs. the New York Times vs. the Ethiopian despot in the Battle for credibility.

The Haile Gebrselassie retirement story continues to make news and it’s only getting stranger and stranger. Two days after a story appeared in the New York Times on Gebselassie’s un-retirement in which it was said that Gebrselassie was under intense political pressure in his native Ethiopia and his phones had been tapped, Gebrselassie and his manager Jos Hermens appeared on national television in Ethiopia and ripped the veracity of the story that appeared in the New York Times… LetsRun.com contacted the New York Times around 10:30 pm EST on Thursday night to try to get Jeré Longman’s response to the Hermens statement. Longman wasn’t in the office and the unidentified employee in the Sports Department who answered the phone told us to call back in the morning as he wasn’t going to call him this late at home on this matter. On an aside, we imagine if this story was about a US sports star, the reaction would be different. To us, this is a huge story as it involves possible political intimidation of a world record holder. If Hermens did tell the New York Times Haile’s phones were tapped, then it appears he has quickly been forced to deny it on national televsion in Ethiopia. If he didn’t say it, then it’s pretty bad reporting by arguably the US’s most famous newspaper… [read the whole story here]

6 thoughts on “Political intimidation of a world record holder

  1. Haile has apparently tried to silence dwellers of Addis whose lands and houses are being confisticated and dismantled with his “ማጉረምረም የለባቸውም” comments, and that is where his problems are rooted. He is dilusioned by money and his aspiration to excel in business and politics. He has aligned himself with wolves and foreigners – forces who master over the sheep with impunity presently. He does not have the sophistication or experiance to be everywhere and everything. What sustained him through out his remarkable career and triumps were his sense of humblness, hard work, and heart-to-heart connection with the folky people. And he, in the end, betrayed that trust because of his wanton greed and love of worldiness. The New York Times has no motive in sqrewing up Haile. The guilty parties are Haile and the Ethiopian government.

  2. OMG, the inevitable just happened. Retirement with withdrawal, defeat, and disgrace! He could have quitted long time ago with dignity and grace and yet be the hero of heroes. I am dead sure athletics will not miss him. He will certainly miss the money, attention and most of all the heroism.

  3. Dear Ethiopians and ER,

    Please do not let this go. Haile could be in trouble if we don’t let the world know that he is under the oppression of Meles regime. We could use his fame by sending petition, etc all of the world “Save Haile” therefore, Meles regime and his wife will be outed how they are also oppressing a renowned athlete. The truth of Meles regime will come out.

    We need to save his reputation and his life. Meles can even ban him from running or put him under house arrest. The Meles regime have been training Tigrayan athletes and the Tigrayans will be made to win all over the world like Gebre Gebremariam did. I don’t think the NY Marathon was an accident. Haile must have been told to lose so that Gebre could win. This is not based on merit but based on pro ethnic. We must not let go of this. Those of you who are childish by getting angry at Haile G/Selassie, what do you expect, in order to live he has to pretend he like Meles regime.

  4. #1 tt7,

    Are you saying now that Haile is guilty of land grab from under the feet of the Wayyanewoch? Ere tew!

    He really looks very thin and skinny as well as treating nicely the mistreated Birtukan and the neglected Nakamte sport Stadium.

  5. ይህንን አጭር ማስታወሻ ዋርካ ላይ ስጭር በተቻለኝ መጠን ምክንያታዊ እንጂ ስሜታዊ ላለመሆን ሞክሬያለሁ ወይም ለመሆን የሞከርኩ ይመስለኛል ;; በህይወቴ የሀይሌን ጀግንነት እና ”ህዝባዊነት ” ልክ እንዲህ እንደዛሬው የምጠራጠርበት ”ክፉ ” ቀን ይመጣል ብዬ አስቤውም አልሜውም አላውቅም ነበር ;; እርግጥ ነው ጀግንነቱን ልጠራጠር ብልስ ላለፉት አስራ ምናምን አመታት ያስመዘገባቸውን ወርቃማ ድሎችንና ድሎቹንም ተከትሎ በእያንዳንዳችን ልብ ውስጥ እንዳይጠፋ ሆኖ የለኮሰውን እነዚያን አይረሴ የደስታ ቀናት እንደምን መርሳት ይቻለኛል ? በአለም ህዝብ ዘንድ በመልካም ነገር የምንነሳበት አንዳች ነገር ባልነበረን ሰዕት በግል ጥረቱ ባመጣልን ድሎቹ ስማችንን በበጎ እንዲጠራ ስላደረገልን በልባችን ዙፋን ይነግስ ዘንድ ብዙዎቻችን የፈቀድንለትን ”ጀግና ” ጀግንነት እንደምን መጠራጠር ይቻላል ? ጀግናችን ብለን ለአመታት ያነገስነው ሀይሌ በንጹህ ላቡ ባፈራው ሀብት የራሱንም የወገኑንም ህይወት መቀየር ሲቻለው ከቶ ምን ጎሎበት ይሆን ዛሬ ከባለቀኖችና ህዝብ ከተፋቸው የህዝብ ጠላቶች ጉያ ስር ለመለጠፍ ”የደፈረውና ” በክብር ከነገሰበት የሚሊዮኖች ልብ ውስጥ ትዝብትና ጥላቻን ለመዝራት የፈለገው ? ለየትኛው እድሜ ? ለየትኛውስ ደስታ ? ስለምንስ በሽምግልና ስም በግልጽና በስውር የህዝብን ይሁንታ ካላገኘ ”መንግስት ” ተብዬ ጎን መቆምን መረጠ ? ለምን አሁን ? ለምንስ ዛሬ ? ሀይሌ በሰሞነኛው ድርጊቶቹ ሊነግረን የፈለገው ነገር ይኖር ይሆን ? ወይስ ከዚህ በፊት የህዝብን ፍቅርና ክብር በጊዜያዊ የፖለቲካዊ አሊያም ደግሞ ኢኮኖሚያዊ ጥቅም ሲሉ ቀይረው የህዝብን ትዝብትና ንቀት እንዳተረፉት የታሪክና የትውልድ ”አተላዎች ” እርሱም ዛሬ ላይ ቆሞ ሊነግረን የማይደፍረው ከህዝብ ፍቅርና ክብር በላይ የሆነ አንዳች ”ጸጋ ” ፈተና ላይ ጥሎት ይሆን ያለቦታው የተገኘው ? ይህስ አቁዋሙ የሀይሌ የመጨረሻው መጀመሪያ ይሆን ???

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